Cheap Ikaruga (Video Games) (GameCube) Price

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Customer Reviews of Ikaruga

The first impression you get when you fire up Ikaruga is how polished it is. Everything -- from the title screen, to how the ships move, to the zen-like fractal beauty of the bosses' energy blasts -- is flat-out gorgeous. Although the game is a top-down 2D shooter, almost everything is rendered in real-time 3D, which allows for some fantastic special effects.

The second impression you get is how insanely difficult this game is. The first level isn't hard to survive, although you'll probably get a terrible score ranking your first few [hundred] times through it. Level two is difficult. Levels three through five are crazy. The game is short -- very short -- but it's the kind of experience that video game junkies will play again and again (and again), trying to eke out a few more points each time.

Finally, you may come to realize how ingenious this game is. They've stripped away all the extra stuff that's crept into shooters over the years -- there are no powerups, no "bombs", no bonus point items to pick up, and not much of a storyline (there was a bit more in the version released a few years back on the Dreamcast, but they dropped it on the GCN instead of translating it). The only "gimmick" they have is the polarity system -- every enemy ship and projectile in the game is either "white" or "black", and you can toggle your ship back and forth nearly instantly. Projectiles of the same color are harmless (and in fact give you points and energy to power your devastating homing laser attack), while ones of the opposite color mean instant death. Furthermore, you deal twice as much damage to enemies of the opposite color. This adds incredible complexity and depth to the gameplay, as you'll have to choose between playing the same color as the enemies (thus gaining immunity to their shots and extra use of your homing laser), or the opposite (allowing you to kill them faster, which usually causes more enemies to appear, earning you bonus points). In the later levels, enemies of both colors will regularly flood the screen with bullets, forcing you to frantically switch colors while blasting anything that moves. The scoring system is based upon destroying "chains" of similarly-colored enemies -- for maximum points, you need to kill enemies in groups of three. It all comes together to produce something that's, at times, more of a puzzle game than a shooter, and that's truly unique.

This game is *not* for everybody -- if you have a short attention span, don't like games that will kick your...for weeks, or don't have lightning-fast reflexes, great hand-eye coordination, and an intuitive ability to read 2D shooter patterns, *stay away*. Just find someone who's good at it, watch them play, and marvel at the pretty graphics.

I am hopelessly addicted
Let me start off by saying that I've never been a fan of the overhead space shooter genre. However, I have been a fan of games developed by Treasure, such as Silhouette Mirage or Bangai-O. With Treasure's reputation in mind and the somewhat lower price mark influencing my decision as well, I decided to pick up Ikaruga somewhat on a whim.

I have become hopelessly addicted. My view of life around me for the past two weeks has been that everything not pertaining to my Gamecube is simply a hindrance to my Ikaruga game playing time. Even now, I feel that I am sacrificing my Ikaruga time by writing this review.

Ikaruga's gameplay has an interesting gimmick based on color and polarity. There are two different colors of laser fire in this game, each of which correspond to a certain polarity: white and black. You can change the polarity, or color, of your ship at any time during game play between white and black by pressing the A button. When your ship is white, you can absorb white shots. When your ship is black, you can absorb black shots. If a shot of the opposite color/polarity hits you, then you die. You'll oftentimes find yourself navigating a sea of white and black fire, constantly having to switch back and forth while destroying enemies around you in order to maintain your life.

Ikaruga is one of the hardest games that I've played in a long while, but also one of the most rewarding. There are only five stages; an experienced gamer could probably beat the game in about 20 minutes. However, you will not be that good at the game until you know each level like the back of your hand. Expect to invest several hours to claim even the mildest degree of mastery over a given level (e.g. getting through the level). However, this game was certainly developed with replay value in mind, even after playing the same levels over and over, hour upon hour, they never get old.

By continuously playing the game, you begin to notice patterns in the enemy fire, or when, where, and how many enemies appear on-screen at any given time. At that point you form strategies, you begin to see visual patterns in enemy fire and you begin to see easy ways to dodge it, and you find ways to kill each enemy more efficiently while expending less lives. You notice your own skill increase each time you play, and there are few things more rewarding than slowly getting better at, and eventually defeating, such a game as Ikaruga.

Graphically, the combination of the black and white fire along with tons of on-screen enemies creates a presense that is as visually mesmerizing as it is visually overwhelming. The music and controls are simple and effective; it's clear that Treasure spent a lot of time, care, and planning into this game.

Get this game while you can. Treasure developed software is notorious for having limited appeal, and thus, limited releases.

Made Me Laugh Out Loud at the Learning Curve
I've always been a fan of the horizontal/vertical space shooter genre, and "Ikaruga" manages to roll up all the best stuff about each entry in that genre, and then, do it one better.

Made by the geniuses at Treasure, the team behind the legendary "Gunstar Heroes" (Genesis), "Ikaruga" is not your typical shoot-fest. The story is negligible, because you won't be seeing anything even vaguely related to it, and it's cut-and-dry, anyway. The meat of this game is definitely the hardcore, old-school-feeling gameplay. There can be hundreds of bullets on the screen at a time. However, the twist that "Ikaruga" introduces is that you don't necessarily have to dodge them all.

Your ship is unique in that it can change its magnetic alignment at any time with a press of the A button, from Black to White and back again, on the fly. If you are hit by a bullet of your ship's current color, you'll absorb the bullet and it will power up a set of special homing laser shots, and these homing lasers do ten times the damage of your normal cannon. Also, if you fire upon an opposite-colored ship, it will do twice the damage, but you will be vulnerable to its hostile fire.

The beauty is that no enemy is immune, really. Each one is colored black or white accordingly, and the bosses like to switch between the two periodically. Speaking of the bosses, they're very inventive and challenging, and will teach you how to die in many, many ways.

And you will die. A lot. Believe you me. I do consider myself something of an elite gamer, and this title continuously schools me; with only 3 credits at the start of the game, that makes this a very fun, very cool, but very, very hard title. Recommended? You better believe it.

Inventiveness:8 (out of 10)
The extra black-and-white twist on a classic genre helps "Ikaruga" define itself as not just another difficult face.

Sound:7.5
The sound effects are all mostly spot-on, but the music, while uplifting and appropo, seems to all carry the same hooks and themes, like one long continuous track.

Graphics:7
While not the prettiest title out there, the graphical stylings do get their point across. However, exclusively considering this genre, Ikaruga's graphics are stellar.

Control: 9
While you may be wishing you had a "kill everything on the screen" button every now and again, Ikaruga handles almost flawlessly. It's mastering your little ship that will test your patience, not mastering the controls.

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Overall Score:8
The bottom line: a game that will make you laugh with joy at the gimmick and groan with pain at the difficulty.